Winthrop



J. WINTHROP VACUUM CLEANER Aug. 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 26, 1946 INVENTOR ob/n WznZZmoP.

ATTORNEY Aug. 7, 1951 J. WINTHROP 2,552,996

VACUUM CLEANER Filed Sept. 26, 1946 2 Sheets Sheet 2 INVENTOR, \To 71 n n/z'rfibrdjl,

A TTORNEK Patented Aug. 7, 1951 OFFICE VACUUM CLEANER John Winthrop, Wyckoff, N. J.

Application September 26, 1946, Serial No. 699,574

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners, as of the type in which the air-impelling means and filtering means form a unit to which a hose or equivalent having a suction nozzle is attached.

A principal object of the invention is to provide not only for effective reduction of pressure within the nozzle, and hence increased pressure at the underside, say, of a rug or carpet being cleaned, but for increased velocity of the flow of the air. Other objects and consequent advantages will appear hereinafter, or at least will appear to those skilled in this art.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus, with certain parts shown in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the rotor in the plane of, say, line 2?-2;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a section 29 of the fixed structure of the turbines, with the shaft 16 and a spacer IQ of the rotor appearing in horizontal section, as in a plane cutting the lowest spacer l9; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a modified form of the apparatus.

Describing the apparatus as per example shown,

A casing is formed as follows: I and 2 respectively designate upright intermediate and outer shells forming between them an induction space 3 which is endless in plan; 4 is a partition which closes of! space 3 at the bottom and, except as will appear, closes off at the bottom the space within the shell I; and 6 is a cup-shaped base, here of the same diameter as shell 2 and providing a space I. All these parts may be formed as a unit. Shell 2 has an intake 2a which a suction hose (not shown) equipped with the usual suction nozzle, may be attached; shell I is perforated at numerous points, as la, throughout its vertical and circumferential extent; partition 4 has a central opening 4a connecting the space within shell I and the space 1 of the base; and the upright wall of the base is circumferentially perforated at 6a to form with 4:1 and space I an outlet from the space within shell I, which also has an outlet at the top, as will now appear.

At 8 is a removable cover having a central airdischarge outlet 8a and, suitably sealed at 8b, closing off space 3 at the top.

At 9 is a filter of some semi-permeable sheet material, as foraminous paper, which surrounds shell I, covering all of its perforations la. When the apparatus is operating with the dust-laden air entering at intake is and penetrating first the 2 filter and then the perforations la in wall I, the dust is checked by the filter and accumulates in space 3, from which it may be removed via an opening ID normally closed by a removable closure H.

A forked bracket [2 having its depending terminals affixed to the upper margin of shell I, as by screws l3, supports an electric motor Whose field is indicated at M and its armature at IS, the shaft I6 of the motor depending from the armature (to which it is fixed) to near the partition 4. The armature and shaft and certain rotary elements to be described of the turbines form what I term the rotor; said elements are to be clamped, as will appear, by the coaction of the armature, a washer I1 and nut IS (the nut being screwed on the shaft) and spacers, as sleeves, l9 penetrated by the shaft and interposed between the armature and washer.

There are here four of said elements, i. e., blowers superposed and existing as an upper pair and a lower pair. The blowers of the upper pair (of the upper turbine) are alike, so a description of one will serve for the other. A disk 20 has depending therefrom vanes 2| extending generally radially, and to the lower edges of these vanes is afiixed a disk 22 parallel with disk 20. Disk 20 of the upper blower is clamped between the armature and the uppermost spacer [9; disk 20 of the lower blower is clamped between such spacer and the intermediate spacer. The disk 22 of each such blower has a central air-duct 23. The blowers of the lower pair (of the lower turbine) are also alike, thus: In each case a disk 24 has upstanding vanes 25 extendin generally radially, and to the upper edges of these vanes is aflixed a disk 26 parallel with disk 24. Disk 24 of the upper blower of this pair is clamped between the intermediate and lowest spacer l9; disk 24 of the lower blower is clamped between the lowest and the washer. The disk 26 of each such blower has a central air-duct 21. The vanes of each blower extend from the corresponding air-passage to the margins of the disks, and the vanes are all curved so that their convex sides face in the direction of rotation of the rotor (arrow, Fig. 2).

A structure to provide the fixed elements of the turbines is formed as follows: 28 designates an upper pair and 29 a lower pair of cup-shaped sections and 30 an intermediate cup-shaped section all arranged as a stack, with the bottom portion of each that is next above another rabbeted exterioriy, as at 3|, to fit and rest on the latter. The bottom of each section has a central air-duct 32. The section 30 permits passage of air through its circumferential wall, as via numerous perforations a. The upper section of the upper pair has depending from its bottom vanes 33 extending generally radially, and to the lower edges of the vanes is afixed a disk 34 parallel with said bottom. The upper section of the lower pair has upstanding from its bottom vanes 35 extending generally radially, and to the upper edges of these vanes is affixed a disk 36 parallel with the bottom. The vanes 33 and 35 extend from the corresponding air-passages 32 to the margins of such disks, and these vanes are all so curved that their concave sides face in the direc tion of rotation of the rotor (arrow, Fig. 3). The circumferential walls of the several sections form a shell of greater interior diameter than that of all the disks of the turbines and the bottoms of such sections form partitions which divide the space of such shell into five superposed chambers to the middle one only of which air may enter, as via the mentioned perforations 30a; as for the upper pair of such chambers, the upper one contains the upper blower of the pair of blowers of the upper turbine and the lower one contains the lower blower of such pair and the fixed element of such turbine-which latter element is formed by parts 33 and 34, taken with the corresponding partitionand as for the lower pair of such chambers, the upper one contains the upper blower of the pair blowers of the lower turbine and also the fixed element of such turbinewhich latter element is formed by the parts 35 and 36, taken with the corresponding partitionand the lower one contains the lower element of such pair. Said structure, which is of less diameter than the interior of the intermediate shell I and the cylindrical walls of whose sections together form what I term the inner shell--thus providing, as shown, a circumferential space 31 between themis seated on an elastic sealing ring 38 supported by wall 4, and an elastic sealing ring 39 spaces it at the top from shell I. Another such ring 40 is interposed between the top of said inner shell and the motor field.

In the operation of the example set forth it will be apparent that with the rotor driven each blower oi the upper and lower pairs acts to impel the air, here outwardly and against the inner shell. The dust-laden air enters at 2a to space 3, is then filtered by the filter means, and then enters the distributing chamber via the perforations Bfla. It then flows generally upwardly and downwardly through the said passages, in this instance specifically following the tortuous courses indicated b the curved arrows in Fig. 1, escaping at the top between the motor armature and field and then via the outlet 8:: and at the bottom via the outlet formed at 4a--1Ga.

According to my invention, essentially considered, there are at least two blower means (as here formed by a blower of each of the two upper and lower pairs) and fixed structure (here afi'orded by at least the mentioned inner or seetionally formed shell) having separate passages containing, and arranged to conduct in independent streams the air impelled by the respective blower means (which passages are here formed by the spaces defined by the mentioned inner shell and extending the one here upwardly from the partition of the lowest section 28 and the other here downwardly from the partition of section 30) and each of which passages has an air discharge outlet (one here at the upper end of the upper passage and the other at the .4 lower end of the lower passage) and an air intake (one here formed by airduct 32 of the lowest partition of the sections 28 and the other by the partition of section 30), said structure also including, with a distributing chamber open to both said intakes (and being here formed by the section 3|) and the partition of the lowest section 28) and having means (as 30a) to admit air to the chamber from its exterior, filter means (here formed by the perforated shell i and filter sheet 9) impeding the free flow of air to said chamber via said air-admitting means. Thereby my apparatus is adapted to effect at the sur-- face on which the mentioned suction nozzle is operating not only reduced pressure but increased velocity of the flowing air.

The preferred construction may be characterized by each or all of the following conditions: That the blower means includes rotary blowers; that such blowers are coaxial; that, with the blowers thus coaxial and contained in said passages, the distributing chamber is arranged between the passages, whereby the apparatus may be made to have compact form; that, with the apparatus thus constructed. said structure includes separate sections each formed continuous around the axis of the blowers and one of which provides said chamber and two of which, at opposite sides of the latter, provide said passages respectively containing the blowers. Further, in the preferred construction the dust-laden air in transit to the distributing chamber, of a zone of limited width, is impeded by a filter means of a zone of appreciably greater width, whereby choking oil of the flow by the dust accumulating on the filter means is very appreciably delayed.

Since collection of dust on the filter means in time reduces its efiiciency and should be removed, to facilitate cleaning the filter means I provide for its removal from the casing as follows-see Fig. 4:

Here the construction is assumed to be the same as that already described in the following respects: The shells 4| and 42 form between them a space 43 which is continuous around the axis of the motor, being closed at the bottom end at 44 and open at its upper end, shell 4| being perforated at Ma and shell 42 providing an air in-- take 42a; 45 is the removable cover for said space (thus normally closed off from the exterior of the casing except via the intake); and 46 is the stack of sections corresponding to the stack of sections 2B29 30 But the filter means, formed around said axis and between said shells and comprising a wall 41 perforated like wall I and a semi-permeable sheet 48, as foraminous paper, surrounding and in laminated relation to wall 41, is removable from the space 43 upon removing the cover. On such removal of said filter means the sheet 48 may be removed from said wall to be replaced by a fresh one, if necessary.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. A suction cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell having between the blowers partitions in spaced transverse zones of the shell and forming between them an air distributing chamber, said first shell having means to admit air to substantially only that portion of its interior which is formed by the chamber and between the respective blowers,

the first shell forming air-impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the inner ends of the passages, an air outlet at the outer end of each passage, filter means forming with and around the first shell a first substantially annular space encompassing the blowers and the distributin chamber, and a second shell forming with and around the filter means a second substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the first annular space, an air-inlet means in the second shell, and means for closing off escape of air from each of said two annular spaces to the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shells.

2. A suction cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell having between the blowers partitions in spaced transverse zones of the shell and forming between them an air distributing chamber, said first shell hav ing a series of spaced openings through its wall only at the distributing chamber to admit air to substantially only that portion of its interior which is formed by the chamber and between the respective blowersl, the shell forming air-impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the inner ends of the passages, an air outlet at the outer end of each passage, filter means forming with and around the first shell a first substantially annular space encompassing the blowers and the distributing chamber, the filter means comprising a rigid foraminous cylinder having an outer covering layer of flexible porous filter material thereover, and a second shell forming with and around the filter means a second substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the first annular space, an air-inlet means in the second shell, and means for closing oil? escape of air from each of said two annular spaces to the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shells.

3. A suction cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell having between the b owers partitions in spaced transverse zones of the shell and forming between them an air distributing chamber, said first shell having a series of spaced openings through its wall only at the distributing chamber to admit air to substantially only that portion of its interior which is formed by the chamber and between the respective blowers, the shell forming air-impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the inner ends of the passages, an air outlet at the outer end of each passage, a second shell positioned outside and spaced from the first shell, substantially coaxial therewith and encompassing the distributor chamber and the blowers, the second shell having a plurality of spaced holes therein, filter means spaced from the second shell and forming with the second shell a second substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the filter means, the filter means comprising a rigid foraminous cylinder having an outer covering layer of flexible porous filter material thereover, and a third shell forming with and around the filter means, a third substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the first and second annular spaces, an air-inlet means in the third shell, and means for closing off escape of air from each of said three annular spaces to the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shells.

4. A cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell providing an air distributing chamber between the blowers, said first shell having air conducting passages through its outer wall in that portion encompassing the air distributing chamber, the first shell forming air impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the confronting ends of the passages about the blowers, filter means forming with and around the first shell a first, substantially annular space encompassing the blowers and the distributing chamber, and a second shell forming with and around the filter means a second substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the first annular space, an air conducting passage in the second shell, and means for closing off communication oi each of the two annular spaces with the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shell.

5. A cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell providing an air distributing chamber between the blowers, said first shell having air conducting passages through its outer wall in that portion encompassing the air distributing chamber, the first shell forming air impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the confronting ends of the passages about the blowers, filter means positioned around the distributing chamber, and a second shell forming with and around the filter means a sub stantially annular space, such substantially annular space encompassing the distributing chamber, an air conducting passage in the sec-- and shell, and means for closing off communication of the substantially annular space with the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shell.

6. A cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell providin an air distributing chamber between the blowers, said first shell having air conducting passages through its outer wall in that portion encompassing the air distributing chamber, the first shell forming air impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the confronting ends of the passages about the blowers, filter means positioned around the distributing chamber, and a second shell positioned outwardly of the first shell and forming the outer boundary of a substantially annular space, said substantially annular space encompassing the aaeaaec blowers, the distributing chamber, and the filter, an air conducting passage in the second shell, and means for closing ofi communication of the substantially annular space with the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shell.

7. A cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell providing an air distributing chamber between the blowers, said first shell having air conducting passages through its outer wall in that portion encompassing the air distributing chamber, the first shell forming air impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the confronting ends of the passage about the blow ers, filter means forming with and around the first shell a first, substantially annular space encompassing the distributing chamber, and a second shell positioned around the first shell and the filter means, the second shell forming the outer boundary of a second substantially annular space encompassing the blowers, the distributing chamber, and the first annular space, an air conducting passage in the second shell, and means for closing off communication of each of the two annular spaces with the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shell.

8. A cleaning apparatus including spaced coaxial rotary blowers for impelling in opposite directions the air to be cleaned, means to drive the blowers, a first housing shell formed continuously around the blowers and substantially coaxial therewith, said first shell providing an air distributing chamber between the blowers, said first shell having air conducting passages through its outer wall in that portion encompassing the air distributing chamber, the first shell forming air impelling passages about the blowers, passageways between the distributing chamber and the confronting ends 01 the passages about the blowers, filter means forming with and around the first shell a first substantially annular space encompassing the distributing chamber, and a second shell forming with and around the filter means a second substantially annular space encompassing the distributing chamber and the first annular space, an air conducting passage in the second shell, and means for closing oil communication of the two annular spaces with the atmosphere in either direction lengthwise of the shell.

JOHN WINTHROP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 272,542 Green Feb. 10, 1883 867,791 Capell Oct. 8, 1907 921,365 Clarkson May 11, 1909 2,049,602 Clarkstedt Aug. 4, 1936 2,116,233 Cole May 3, 1938 2,219,567 Spielman Oct. 29, 1940 2,364,877 Smellie Dec. 12, 1944 2,373,497 Paiste, Jr. Apr. 10, 1945 

